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Education

The school board at Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen on Wednesday night decided unanimously to fire executive director Roberta Harrell, and voted 4-3 to reinstate the six faculty members who were fired last week.

The board’s actions came after three hours of closed meetings to discuss legal and personnel issues. There was no public discussion regarding Harrell’s termination.

Coen Kenny’s eyes lit up as his paper airplane launched high into the air and shot across the gym at Parmalee Elementary School.

“Wow. I like this one best,” he said with a grin, gesturing to the wooden launcher that shot paper airplanes sequentially.

Kenny was just one of hundreds of Parmalee students who attended the school’s annual Fall Family Fun Night on Oct. 19. Though the event is generally held outside and includes relay races and obstacle courses, it was moved indoors this year to accommodate cooler weather.

Students at Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen have been learning to measure, saw and nail as part of a new woodworking class offered to its middle-schoolers.

The first task for this class of seven students — five girls and two boys — was to create its workshop inside a shed. The students installed windows and wallboard, and teacher Ian Dunbar will add work stations and a demonstration table.

Dunbar, the school’s technology teacher, has an affinity for woodworking and has taken classes at Red Rocks Community College.

The King-Murphy PTA’s second annual fun run fund-raiser on Friday morning was a success in several ways:

• Students enjoyed the 38-degree fresh air as they ran laps around the turf field. Most of the younger students ran at least 1.5 miles in about 30 minutes, with a few running closer to 3 miles. The first group included the preschoolers through second-graders, with the older students running later.

Nearly two dozen Jeffco high-schoolers have been named as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholar Program, including two mountain area students and 10 students at high schools in the South Jeffco area.

Jeffco Public Schools faced some staunch opposition last week to the bond and mill levy it hopes voters will approve on Election Day in November.

At an election forum held at Center/Stage Theatre in Evergreen on Sept. 27, former school board member Laura Boggs highlighted what she sees as long-term financial ramifications of the proposed $535 million bond issue and $33 million property-tax increase intended to go toward facilities upgrades, compensation and other needs in the district.

According to his dad, the King-Murphy Elementary School kindergartner loses his socks so frequently that his family began referring to him by that nickname. But it’s just one of the ways in which Lee Sandblom says his son is unique.